English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

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From cat + -y, likening sharp, sly remarks to a cat's hidden claws.

From "fat" plus "-y".

From chat ("informal talk") + the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From "bat" (the animal) plus "-y," popularised by the phrase "bats in one's belfry," describing bats flying erratically — first used to mean "insane" in the early 1900s.

A modification of "saucy," built from "sass" plus the adjective ending "-y"; first recorded in American English in 1799, though it only became common in the 1800s.

From "gas" plus the adjective ending "-y."

Origin uncertain, likely Scottish and probably imitative of the sound of a sharp blow — the source of the related word "thwack."

From Old French chacier, from Vulgar Latin captiare, based on Latin capere ("to seize"). A doublet of "catch," related to "capture."

A dialectal pronunciation of "naught."

First recorded around 1797 as a "minced oath" — a softened stand-in for "damn" meant to avoid outright swearing.

From Old English deaf, from a Proto-Germanic root related to Ancient Greek typhlos, "blind" — the same broad idea of a blocked sense.

A straightforward compound of data and base, coined in computing to describe a structured "base" of data.

From Middle French desordre, from dis- + order.

From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundator — related to "found" in the sense of "establish."

From Old Norse skammr, meaning "short" — the same ancient root that gives us the idea of something falling just short.

From Old French redimer, ultimately Latin redimere — red- (\"back\") plus emere (\"to buy\") — literally \"to buy back.\"

From Old English wiþinnan, formed from with plus in.

From Old English hērinne, literally "here" plus "in."

From Old English crabba, an ancient Germanic word for the shelled sea creature; the "complain" sense likely grew from the animal's irritable, snapping reputation.

From Latin domesticus, from domus, "house, home."

From Old English loppestre, possibly a corruption of Latin locusta ("grasshopper" or a shrimp-like crustacean).

From Old French crevice, reshaped in English under the influence of the word "fish" — it has no real connection to fish at all.

From Latin rarus, "thin, spaced apart, infrequent" — the idea of things being spread far apart gave us the modern sense of "uncommon."

From Anglo-Norman and Old French forms related to "appease" — it shares the same root as the modern word, just with the prefix worn away over time.